Correction appended.
At their meeting Tuesday, the Athens County Commissioners formally requested Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn to investigate the owners of an Alexander Township injection well.
The well was not operational after January 2016, but a report from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that year found 60 barrels worth of waste in the well, Felicia Mettler, spokeswoman for Torch Can Do, an anti-fracking group, said. She added that using the well was in direct violation of Ohio Revised Code.
"(There) are some questions that we, as a county I think, need to find out from ODNR," Mettler said. "The history on this well is scary. They've had another contamination on the soil, the dumpsters have holes in them. It took (the owners) over two months to clean this up."
Mettler also raised concerns that the well the waste is being dumped into is located on a hillside right above a stream.
Eric Heis, spokesman for ODNR, said in an email that the 60 barrels worth of wastewater had already been injected into the well before it was closed due to a pump break. Once the well was closed, no more waste was injected, meaning no violation occurred, he said.
"Ohio’s injection well regulations have been proven to protect underground sources of drinking water and include high standards for surface casing, routine mechanical integrity testing and continuous injection pressure monitoring," Heis said in an email. "The U.S. EPA recently conducted a periodic review of Ohio’s injection well program and found it to be strong, with more than 50 staff performing over 25,000 inspections each year. "
The commissioners will also draft a letter to the state legislators representing Athens requesting they vote against Senate Bill 2.
The bill would require each county in Ohio hire a surveyor to map the water lines in the county, which the commissioners said they can't afford. The commissioners said they could acquire the money if there was a delay in the deadline or if the state provided grant money.
The commissioners also signed a proclamation declaring March Disability Awareness Month in the county.
"We still firmly believe that every month is disability month but until such time we're willing to designate March in Athens (as Disability Awareness month)," Superintendent of the board Kevin Davis told commissioners.
The theme for this year's disability awareness month is "always there," adult service director Mark Cullison said. The theme is in reference to the 50th anniversary of the creation of County Boards of Developmental Disabilities throughout the state.
"Athens County Board is no different than any other counties," Cullison said. "The idea is that no matter what ... the county board has always been there and always will be there to coordinate the services and provide the best health and safety education and outreach for the individuals we serve."
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated who had been using the injection well in Alexander Township, when the last injection had occurred and misidentified which board was celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The article has been updated to include the most accurate information.
